WORLD INSISTS ON THE PEACE SETTLEMENT OF KARABAKH CONFLICT AND OUR STATE FOLLOWS THESE PRINCIPLES: NOVELLA JAFAROGHLU

news.az
Nov 12 2009
Azerbaijan

Novella Jafaroghlu News.Az interviews human rights activist Novella
Jafaroghlu on her attitude to a dialogue between representatives
of Armenian and Azerbaijan mass media held in Moscow on October 28
of 2009.

"I think it is correct. The world insists on the peace settlement of
this conflict and our state follows these principles. Our president
Ilham Aliyev meets with Sergh Sargsyan, our foreign ministers also
meet. It means we all want to settle this peacefully. Accord between
nations is needed to come to peace. It is primarily necessary to
persuade the two nations that there will be no enmity.

I think journalists and human rights activists are the first
representatives of the two nations that should meet. Journalists
should avoid insulting descriptions against each other or raising
tensions if we reallywant to attain peace resolution of the conflict,
while meetings between human rights activists are important to attain
confidence that the rights of Armenians as well as the rights of other
national minorities of Azerbaijan will be secured. We have never had
problems with protecting rights of Russians, Jews, Lezgins, Avars,
Talishs. Armenians lived freely in Azerbaijan and they never had
problems with Azerbaijanis. All our problems started in relation
to Karabakh.

Therefore, journalists should meet and create new types of
negotiations. It is necessary to restore practice of holding video and
television bridges. In turn, we, the human rights activists, constantly
meet each other. We work together. It would be incorrect that we
are happy to see each other. The process moves in hard conditions,
but we try to find a common language and understand each other.

One of such meetings occurred in the Cyprus, where Karabakh Armenians
and Azerbaijanis came along with the human rights activists. The
preparations were serious. The invitation was sent to Azerbaijanis
and Armenians who lost their closest relatives at war. And indeed
everyone tried to distance from each other. And when we offered to
forget the past and look into the future, one of the Armenians stood
up and said that when he was going to a meeting with Azerbaijanis,
his fellow villagers said: How can you go there, they killed your
brother? But I see that Farida also lost her brother, husband and
father. It means that we have suffered this equally. And this is not
only my land, it is Farida’s land too. It means that ordinary people
came to a common understanding of the issue.

We should bring the two nations to understanding that they should
live together. Karabakh Armenians should normally perceive the fact
that they are the citizens of Azerbaijan. Therefore, I welcome the
initiative of the journalist circle of the two countries. Journalists
should be there, journalists should meet and journalists can inform
the citizens of the real situation better than others. Certainly,
there will be some things that we and Armenians would not like. But
we should step over that and attain the peaceful settlement of the
problem. It is very important to prevent resumption of hostilities
and to preserves people’s lives".

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress